Drive unit suitable for coupling to a wheeled body, and resulting vehicle

ABSTRACT

A drive unit capable of being coupled to a wheeled body to form a vehicle. The drive unit includes a construction having a frame with two opposite edges parallel to the forward direction, the frame supports a driving power source and is in turn supported along said opposite edges by a pair of side walls that are respectively supported on at least one wheel-like member and define a housing for transmission connecting the driving power source to the wheel-like members, each of the side walls has two opposite surfaces perpendicular to the forward direction, and coupling/un-coupling devices provided on the surfaces for releasably engaging the wheeled body.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Drive unit that can be coupled to a rolling body, and resulting vehicle.

The subject of the present invention is a drive unit capable of beingcoupled directly, by coupling/uncoupling means, to at least one bodyprovided with rolling gear, known as a "rolling body", to form avehicle, and to the resulting vehicle.

More specifically, the invention relates to a drive unit which comprisesdrive means and which is fitted with its own rolling gear, it beingunderstood that in the present description and in the claims, the term"rolling" must not necessarily be taken literally, as will be seenlater.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

The term "coupling/uncoupling means" is understood here to mean bothmeans of mechanical connection (attaching the rolling body to the driveunit) and means of electrical, pneumatic or hydraulic connection fortransmitting orders, information or signalling.

As far as the applicants are aware, no vehicles of the aforementionedtype exist for public transport, as far as road transport is concerned.As far as the road transport of goods is concerned, lorries withsemitrailers are, however, of the aforementioned type.

Trains, whether designed for transporting individuals or goods alsobelong to the aforementioned type.

In the case of the road transport of individuals (public transport), thedrive unit is integral with the rolling body, with the exception oftrailer coaches connected to certain buses via a bellows.

In the aforementioned cases where the drive unit is separate from therolling body, the drive unit consists of the tractor and the rollingbody of the trailer (road transport of goods) or the drive unit consistsof the locomotive and the rolling body of at least one wagon or carriage(rail transport). In both cases, the drive unit, capable of autonomousmovement, comprises at least two axles, while the rolling body also hasat least one. Such an arrangement dictates the providing of anarticulated system for linking together the drive unit and the rollingbody, and this linking system, in the case of road vehicles, must have awide scope for manoeuvres. Furthermore, the drive unit also forms thedriver's position and therefore constitutes a complicated, expensive andbulky assembly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to overcome these drawbacks byproviding a drive unit which can be distinguished from theaforementioned ones in that it does not simultaneously form a driver'sposition, from which it follows that it may constitute an intermediateregion or the tail of the vehicle, the driver's position being providein the or one of the rolling transport bodies to which the drive unit iscoupled, or being a special-purpose module in itself.

More specifically, the drive unit according to the invention consists ofa structure formed, on the one hand, of a chassis having two oppositeedges generally parallel to the direction of rolling, which chassissupports a source of motive power and is itself supported, along thesaid opposite edges, by a pair of side walls which in turn are eachsupported by at least one set of rolling gear and form housings for thepassage of transmission means from the said source of motive powertowards the said rolling gear, which is capable of converting the saidmotive power into work.

A drive unit of this type is described in the prior art as acting as aconnector between two carriages of a rail vehicle. Thus, EP-A-0,633,173discloses a self-propelled train in several parts, comprising a module,provided with rolling gear, and in the roof of which there are a dieselengine and a generator, and two carriages articulated one on each sideof the said module and each of which is supported by a driving bogey. Inthe same vein, WO-A-87/05873 relates to a bogeyless vehicle comprising agantry-type propulsion member which, in its top, comprises a powersupply unit and, at each of its ends, has driven or non-driven rollinggear. The propulsion member disclosed is intended to take a cell forpassengers or a container and is connected, at each end, to an end unitwhich is itself connected, via a communication passage, to an adjacentcarriage.

The main drawback of these known drive units is that they cannot beconnected with equal ease to carriages suitable for transportingpassengers and cars for transporting goods.

The object of the invention is therefore to overcome this inadequacy ofthe prior art by proposing a drive unit which forms a detachable part ofthe vehicle to which it belongs and is capable of being coupled, by anoperator of the said vehicle, to different transport bodies, so as toform a vehicle adapted to a given use.

In order to achieve this, the drive unit according to the invention issuch that, on the one hand, its side walls each have two opposite facesgenerally perpendicular to the direction of rolling, on each of whichthe aforementioned coupling/uncoupling means are provided, and, on theother hand, the said coupling/uncoupling means are capable ofinteracting with mating coupling/uncoupling means belonging just aseasily to a transport body of the container type as to a body intendedfor transporting passengers and/or forming a driver's position.

The unit according to the invention can be produced in numerousalternative forms involving:

the nature of the rolling gear which may, for example, be wheels forroad transport, wheels for rail transport, hybrid rail/road wheels, oreven caterpillar tracks; instead of rolling gear in the strictest sense,the structure could be provided with means adapted to its movement, forexample, on a cushion of air,

the number of sets of rolling gear, when these are wheels,

the nature of the source of motive power which may be a source ofthermal or electrical power,

the power of the source of motive power,

the length of the drive unit (short chassis, long chassis), etc.

The appropriate combinations of these alternative forms will form somany modules that can be adapted to particular types of transport body,to suit the need or circumstances. Thus, it will be possible to modifythe construction of the vehicle, depending on whether it is to run onroads or in an urban environment, incorporating into it a module thathas a combustion engine or a module has an electric motor. In the eventof a breakdown or the need for routine maintenance, or alternatively theneed to recharge batteries in the case of an electric motor, the modulerequiring attention will simply be replaced by a module of the sametype, without taking the transport body out of circulation. This isclearly not possible when the engine of a conventional bus requiresattention.

Conversely, it will be possible for transport bodies of different typesto be connected to one and the same drive unit, and this will allow theoperator of the vehicle to modify the intended purpose of the vehiclewhile keeping the same motor, and thus to reduce operating costs. Itwill thus be possible, in a few hours or even less, to convert a refusevehicle into a bus, simply by replacing the rubbish skip with apassenger-transport module. This bus will then itself be able to beconverted into a container carrier, for example.

Aside from the flexibility of use and of construction offered by thedrive unit according to the invention, on rails just as on road, itmakes it possible for the floor of the transport body to be completelycleared of transmission members, which means that the floor can becompletely flat and lowered, providing easier access to public transportfor the disabled, and making it easier for the interior to be laid outwith the possibility of increasing the number of seats for the same sizeof vehicle and, in the case of the transport of goods, allowing optimumloading.

The capacity of the vehicle can be further increased by using a driveunit which not only does not incorporate a driver's position, but alsois not adapted to the normal transport of passengers or goods, and whichpreferably comprises just one pair of wheels and side walls whosedimension (length) in the direction of rolling does not exceed thedimensions of the drive unit (width and height) in the perpendicularplane, that is to say in the directions which are mutually perpendicularand are perpendicular to the said direction of travel. This then yieldsa drive unit which has minimum bulk, so that the resulting vehicle willoffer a greater capacity for transport for the same track. This is aparticularly advantageous alternative form of the invention, in so faras it allows the contradictory requirements imposed, on the one hand, byconcerns about profitability and, on the other hand, by legislationrelating to the maximum authorized track to be satisfied.

The drive unit can be inserted between two transport bodies of whichone, known as the "basic rolling body" may comprise a driver's positionand the other, known as the "complementary body" will not have one.

The drive unit may be inserted, as an alternative, between a modulewhich specifically forms a driver's position and a rolling body.

Advantageously, the drive unit according to the invention may receive orcomprise a floor, thus allowing, when this unit is inserted between twotransport bodies, or between a special-purpose module forming a driver'sposition and a rolling body, persons to move between the said bodies orbetween the said driver's position and the said body.

As a preference, suspension means are incorporated into the side wallsof the drive unit.

As mentioned earlier, the present invention is also aimed at a vehiclefor transporting people and/or goods, of the type comprising, on the onehand, at least one drive unit as defined hereinabove and, on the otherhand, at least one rolling body, the said drive unit and the saidrolling body comprising mating coupling/uncoupling means, in whichvehicle the driver's position is situated in the or in one of therolling bodies.

In a preferred embodiment, the basic rolling body has just one axle.

The complementary body may either have a short chassis with no axle, ora long chassis with at least one axle. The long-chassis complementarybody may be provided, at both ends, with coupling/uncoupling means thatmate with those of the drive unit, so that the said complementary bodycan be inserted between two such drive units.

The special-purpose module forming the driver's position can bedistinguished from the basic rolling body in that it has no rollinggear.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is described hereafter in greater detail with reference tothe appended drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a drive unit according tothe invention,

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a bus according to theinvention, illustrating three alternative constructions, starting from afirst alternative form of structure of the drive unit, very similar tothat of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of another alternative form of the driveunit according to the invention,

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a bus incorporating the drive unitaccording to FIG. 3, and

FIGS. 5A to 5C are diagrammatic perspective views illustrating thevarious stages in the method allowing the construction of a vehicleaccording to the invention to be changed, in the case where the driveunit has just one pair of wheels.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

If reference is made to FIG. 1, it is possible to see a drive unitaccording to the invention, denoted overall by 1, with an overallstructure in the shape of an inverted U. The U defines a web, or roof, 2and two flanges, or side walls, 3a, 3b which support the roof along twoof its opposite sides parallel to the direction of rolling D. A housing5 for a drive wheel 4a, 4b is formed in each of the side walls 3a, 3b.Stand legs or stabilizers, not depicted, are provided so that the unitcan be kept in the position illustrated.

As is clearly apparent from FIG. 1, the drive unit 1 has no driver'sposition.

The roof 2 of the unit constitutes a chassis which supports a shroudedpower source 6. The unit 1 further comprises a proximal end 7a (withrespect to a basic rolling body to which the drive unit will beconnected) and an opposite, distal, end 7b. The proximal end and distalend are of course perpendicular to the direction of rolling D. Meanssuch as 8a, 8a', etc., of coupling/uncoupling to the aforementionedbasic rolling body are provided in the proximal end 7a, which meanscomprise, in addition to means of attachment between the drive unit andthe said body, means of connecting electric and/or hydraulic and/orpneumatic circuits for control, information or signalling purposesbetween the drive unit and the rolling body. The distal end 7b of theunit 1 comprises either exactly the same coupling/uncoupling means asthe proximal end 7a, which avoids having to orientate the unit 1 in aprecise direction before connecting it to a basic rolling body (in whichcase the distal end is no different from the proximal end), oralternatively coupling/uncoupling means which are strictly limited tothose necessary for connecting either with a complementary body, that isto say which do not, for example, have means to provide a connectionbetween the starter and the engine. When there is a desire to be able toinclude, within the same vehicle, more than one drive unit, it will ofcourse be necessary for the distal and proximal faces of the said unitsto be equipped with the same coupling/uncoupling means, particularly sothat commands from the driver's position and intended for the engine ormotor of the second drive unit will actually reach this engine or motor.

The construction of a vehicle, starting from the drive unit of FIG. 1,is clearly apparent from FIG. 2. In FIG. 2, the same references as inFIG. 1 have been used to denote the same parts, and the same referencesfollowed by a prime symbol have been used to denote similar parts.

The drive unit 1' of FIG. 2 exhibits minor differences compared withthat of FIG. 1: the side walls 3a' and 3b' have an upper part 16a, 16bwhich is relatively thin and a thicker lower part 17a, 17b forming a boxstructure. It is within these box structures that the wheel housings aremade. Furthermore, the U-shaped structure of the unit 1' is equippedwith a floor 9.

As can be seen, the drive unit 1' is inserted between a basic rollingbody 10 equipped with a driver's position 11, and a short-chassiscomplementary body 12. The basic body 10 has a single axle 13, at thefront of the body, and stabilizers, not depicted, are provided at therear in order to keep the floor of the body horizontal when this body isnot connected to the unit 1'. The complementary body 12 has no wheels.

It will be understood that the engine or motor 6 is controlled from thedriver's position 11. Such a vehicle is very easy to handle. This is anappreciable advantage, particularly in the case of buses which can pullaway from the stops more easily.

FIG. 2 also depicts two alternative constructions of bus according tothe invention, namely an alternative form using a long-chassiscomplementary body 14 with one axle 15, and an alternative form withouta complementary body, the passenger compartment of the bus being closedat the rear by an end module 18 simply fitted with the same signallingdevices as those provided at the rear of the short- or long-chassiscomplementary bodies.

From FIG. 2 alone it is clearly apparent that the capacity of the buscan be adapted to suit the need, for example to suit the timetable.

It will also be understood that the module 1', the engine or motor 6 ofwhich is, for example, a diesel engine, can be replaced by a module inwhich the engine or motor may, for example, be an electric motor whenthe vehicle has to run in an environment which is particularly protectedagainst pollution or noise. It will also be understood that such anelectric drive unit running on batteries can be disconnected from thetransport body or bodies and replaced by an identical electric driveunit so that the batteries can be recharged without the said transportbody or bodies being taken out of circulation.

Other possible variations have been mentioned in the introductory partof this description.

If we now examine FIG. 3, where the same references as in FIG. 1 havebeen used to denote the same parts, but increased by 100, it can be seenthat the drive unit denoted overall by 101 comprises, on the one hand, achassis 102 supporting a shrouded power source 106 and, on the otherhand, two opposite side walls 103a, 103b which are parallel to thedirection of rolling of the drive unit. A housing 105 for a drive wheel104 is formed in each of the side walls 103a, 103b.

As before, the drive unit 101 has no driver's position and nor is itadapted for transporting of passengers or goods.

The unit 101 further comprises a proximal end (with respect to aspecial-purpose driver's position) which can be distinguished from theproximal end 7a of FIG. 1 in that it has three parts, namely an upperpart 107a in the shape of an inverted U situated in a first plane whichis approximately that of the proximal face 106a of the shrouding, alower part 107a" in the shape of a right U situated in a second plane,approximately parallel to the first plane but at a distance from it, sothat the lower part 107a" projects with respect to the upper part 107a,and an intermediate part 107a' extending from the upper part to thelower part. As can be seen in FIG. 3, the dimension of the side walls103a, 103b of the drive unit 101, in the direction of rolling D is lessthan the dimension of the proximal end of the drive unit between thesaid walls 103a and 103b in a direction D' which is perpendicular to D.The bulk of the drive unit 101 is therefore reduced to a minimum.

Means, such as 108a, 108a', etc., of coupling/uncoupling to the driver'sposition are provided in the proximal end 107a and 107a".

The distal end 108b of the unit 101 comprises coupling/uncoupling meanswhich are limited to those needed for connecting to a rolling body.

The position occupied by the drive unit 101 in a vehicle, such as a bus,is illustrated in FIG. 4.

It can be seen that the drive unit 101 is inserted between a driver'sposition module 19 and a rolling body 114.

The rolling body 114 has no special feature compared with thecomplementary body 14 of FIG. 2. However, unlike in the embodiment ofFIG. 2, the driver's position 19 does not form part of a rolling body,but constitutes a special-purpose module, without wheels.

The module 19 forming the driver's position comprises, for connectionwith the drive unit 101, a face whose profile is mated to that of theproximal face 107a, 107a', 107a" of the drive unit 101 and whichcomprises coupling/uncoupling means mating with those of the saidproximal face.

FIGS. 5A to 5C illustrate equipment allowing the operator of a vehicleaccording to the invention to modify the composition of the said vehicleto suit his requirements. In these figures, elements of structureidentical/analogous with elements described with reference to thepreceding figures are denoted by reference numbers which areidentical/followed by a prime symbol, respectively.

If reference is first of all made to FIG. 5A, it is possible to see avehicle according to the invention which is formed of a driver'sposition 19 connected, via a drive unit 101, to a rolling body 23, herea refuse skip. The vehicle illustrated is manoeuvred by its driver inthe direction D so as to position the drive unit 101 in the spacedefined by a portal frame 20 mounted on rollers 21 designed to run alonga runway track 22. The track 22 and the portal frame 20 are, forexample, installed at the operator's depot.

In the embodiment illustrated, a rolling body 114' intended for thetransport of passengers is arranged along the track 22 and is intendedto be substituted for the skip 23 so as to convert the refuse vehicledescribed above into a bus.

To do this, the portal frame 20 is first of all engaged with the driveunit 101 so as to deactivate the means 24 that couple the latter to theskip 23. For this, it may be advantageous to provide all the equipmentitems (not depicted), such as a source of power, jacks etc., forachieving this deactivation on the portal frame 20 rather than on thevehicle. The vehicle can thus be lighter and enjoy lower manufacturingcosts.

As illustrated in FIG. 5B, once uncoupled from the skip 23, the driveunit 101 and the associated driver's position 19 are transferred to facethe rolling body 114', by sliding the portal frame 20 along the track22. During this operation, the skip 23 is held in position bystabilizers 25, as is the rolling body 114' (FIG. 5A).

The drive unit 101 is then engaged, using the activation/deactivationequipment on the portal frame 20, with the rolling body 114' which isequipped with the same coupling/uncoupling means 24 (FIG. 5A) as theskip 23. This then gives the situation depicted in FIG. 5C, that is tosay a bus ready to leave.

The stages described with reference to FIGS. 5A to 5C can be carried outin just three quarters of an hour, or half a day at the most.

It will therefore be understood that the invention provides a simple,quick and economical means of adapting a vehicle to a given use.

It is clearly understood that the present invention is not restricted tothe embodiments depicted. In particular, although its application to theconstruction of road vehicles has been described, the invention could beapplied to rail transport.

What is claimed is:
 1. Drive unit (1; 101) capable of being coupleddirectly and linked rigidly, by coupling/uncoupling means (8a, 8a', 8b,8b'; 108a, 108a'), to at least one rolling body (10, 14; 114) providedwith rolling gear, to form a vehicle, which drive unit (1; 101) consistsof a structure formed of a chassis (2; 102) having two opposite edgesgenerally parallel to the direction of rolling (D), which chassis (2)supports a source of motive power (6) and is itself supported, alongsaid opposite edges, by a pair of side walls (3a, 3b: 103a, 103b) whichin turn are each supported by at least one set of rolling gear (4a, 4b:104) and form housings for the passage of transmission means from saidsource of motive power (6) towards said rolling gear, which is capableof converting said motive power into work, whereinsaid side walls (3a,3b; 103a, 103b) each have two opposite faces (7a, 7b: 107a, 107a',107a", 108) generally perpendicular to the direction of rolling (D) andon each of which the aforementioned coupling/uncoupling means (8a, 8a',8b, 8b'; 108a, 108a') are provided, and said coupling/uncoupling means(8a, 8a', 8b, 8b'; 108a, 108a') are capable of interacting with matingcoupling/uncoupling means belonging to a transport body of the containertype to a body intended for transporting passengers (12, 14; 114) and/orforming a driver's position (19, 10), so that said drive unit (1; 101)is adapted to form a detachable part of said vehicle, which can becoupled, by an operator of the vehicle, to different transport bodies,so as to form a vehicle adapted to a given use.
 2. Drive unit accordingto claim 1, wherein the drive unit is not adapted to the normaltransport of passengers or goods, or to incorporating a driver'sposition, and in that the dimension of its side walls (3a, 3b; 103a,103b) in the direction of rolling (D) does not exceed its dimension inthe plane perpendicular to said direction (D).
 3. Drive unit (1; 101)according to claim 2, wherein the drive unit comprises a single pair ofwheels (4a, 4b; 104).
 4. Drive unit (1; 101) according to claim 1,wherein said rolling gear (4a, 4b; 104) comprises wheels for roadtransport, wheels for rail transport, hybrid rail/road wheels orcaterpillar tracks.
 5. Drive unit (1; 101) according to claim 1, whereinthe source of motive power (6) is a source of thermal or electricalpower.
 6. Drive unit (1; 101) according to claim 1, wherein suspensionmeans are incorporated into said side walls (3a, 3b; 103a, 103b). 7.Vehicle incorporating a drive unit (1; 101) capable of being coupleddirectly and linked rigidly, by coupling/uncoupling means (8a, 8a', 8b,8b'; 108a, 108a'), to at least one rolling body (10, 14; 114) providedwith rolling gear, to form a vehicle, which drive unit (1; 101) consistsof a structure formed of a chassis (2; 102) having two opposite edgesgenerally parallel to the direction of rolling (D), which chassis (2)supports a source of motive power (6) and is itself supported, alongsaid opposite edges, by a pair of side walls (3a, 3b; 103a, 103b) whichin turn are each supported by at least one set of rolling gear (4a, 4b;104) and form housings for the passage of transmission means from saidsource of motive power (6) to said rolling gear, which is capable ofconverting said motive power into work, whereinsaid side walls (3a, 3b;103a, 103b) each have two opposite faces (7a, 7b; 107a, 107a', 107a",108) generally perpendicular to the direction of rolling (D) and on eachof which the aforementioned coupling/uncoupling means (8a, 8a', 8b, 8b';108a, 108a') are provided, and said coupling/uncoupling means (8a, 8a',8b, 8b'; 108a, 108a') are capable of interacting with matingcoupling/uncoupling means belonging to a transport body of the containertype to a body intended for transporting passengers (12, 14; 114) and/orforming a driver's position (19, 10), so that said drive unit (1; 101)forms a detachable part of said vehicle, which can be coupled, by anoperator of the vehicle, to different transport bodies, so as to form avehicle adapted to a given use, and wherein the drive unit is insertedbetween two transport bodies (10, 12; 10, 14; 19, 114).
 8. Vehicleaccording to claim 7, wherein one of said transport bodies (12; 19) hasno rolling gear.
 9. Vehicle according to claim 8, wherein said transportunit with no rolling gear is a special-purpose module (19) forming adriver's position.
 10. Vehicle according to claim 7, wherein one of saidtransport bodies (14; 114) has just one axle.